Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—from publishing reports to academic announcements to literary dispatches—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today's stories:
At Literary Hub, Adam Haslett, who is profiled in the May/June 2016 issue of Poets & Writers, considers the writer’s paradox of communicating to others through mostly solitary work, and how that paradox “reveals itself a kind of gift. Because however much solitude writing requires, it remains an effort to connect.” Haslett’s latest novel, Imagine Me Gone, was released yesterday from Knopf. Listen to an interview with the author on episode seven of Ampersand: the Poets & Writers Podcast.
Speaking of Imagine Me Gone, Haslett’s novel is on Vulture’s list of seven book recommendations to read in May.
“I probably turned to poetry because it allowed for a complexity of idea and feeling that I thought religion asked me to avoid.” At the Boston Review, poet Jericho Brown discusses the complicated feelings about joy that turned him towards poetry, and considers how poets deal with the sometimes long distance between writing poems. “The hardest part isn’t writing the poem. We have no choice but to experience joy in that moment. The difficulty of the poet’s life is how to look forward to the next poem—how to know that another one is indeed on the way.”
On the sixtieth anniversary of the publication of James Baldwin’s novel Giovanni’s Room, author Jacqueline Woodson reflects on the importance of Baldwin’s continued influence. “I, like so many writers of color I know, now believe that we’re writing because Baldwin wrote, that history repeats itself and continues to need its witnesses.” (Vanity Fair)
Fiction writer Brian Evenson, whose work is known for its dark, visceral elements, lists six novels that justify delving deep into uncomfortable territories. Evanson has a new novella, The Warren, scheduled for publication this fall from Tor. (A.V. Club, Tor.com)
Bitch features a report on the difficulties of getting books by transgender women included on classroom reading lists.
Jack London was an oyster pirate and Stephen King was a high school janitor. Sometimes an infographic featuring surprising day jobs of famous authors is exactly what you need to see. (ExpertEditor.com)
